Why ‘cracking India’ requires more than scale: Blum’s localisation playbook

For Blum, India's complexity starts with scale itself. "We don't call it a sub-continent for no reason," says Maarten de Vries. Internally, he explains, the company often treats India as a "sub-region" because of its sheer diversity: culturally, behaviourally, and economically. "India is not one country," he says, "it has so many different facets, so many faces."

That complexity changes the rules for global companies. Localisation here isn't limited to tweaking a product catalogue or changing marketing language. It extends into distribution, service, training, communication, and even how products are explained to customers.

The challenge is less about creating entirely India-specific products and more about understanding how Indian homes function differently. Cooking habits vary. Storage needs vary. Even the way carpenters work differs from market to market. As Martin Blum explains, the company's focus is on understanding what customers are trying to solve for, and then adapting products, services, and workflows accordingly.

A large part of that flexibility is already built into the products themselves. Maarten De Vries points out that many of Blum's systems can be configured and used in different ways depending on customer needs. In India, for instance, the company sees particularly strong demand for drawer systems with stainless steel sides because stainless steel remains deeply embedded in Indian kitchen usage and design preferences. Often, he says, localisation is not about reinventing the product, but showing customers how existing systems can work better for their specific needs.

One of the clearest examples of this localisation strategy lies in something Maarten de Vries admits he initially underestimated: after-sales service.

When Blum expanded its India operations and built its own warehouse and local structure, the Indian team strongly pushed for a dedicated after-sales service network. Maarten De Vries wasn't convinced at first. But the local team insisted because they understood that Indian consumers expect far more hands-on support, accessibility, and responsiveness after purchase, especially in categories where functionality, installation, and long-term usage all matter.

Today, that service network has become a critical part of the business. Blum receives thousands of calls through its customer hotline and conducts thousands of home visits to resolve issues and support customers. "Luckily the team convinced me," he says. The anecdote reveals something larger about India as a market. Trust here is rarely built through advertising alone. It is built through proximity, responsiveness, demonstration, and support over time.

That is also why Blum has invested heavily in dealer networks, training programmes, and experience centres across the country. The company's Bengaluru experience centre, for instance, functions not just as a showroom, but as what Martin Blum calls an "ear of the market" - a place to both demonstrate products and gather direct feedback from customers.

The training ecosystem is equally central. Blum trains architects, dealers, students, carpenters, and its own staff through both theoretical and practical programmes. In a market where many consumers are still learning why premium hardware matters, education itself becomes part of the product strategy.

Perhaps the most revealing insight from the conversation comes when Maarten de Vries challenges one of the most persistent assumptions about India. "I don't think India necessarily is a price-sensitive market," he says. "It's a price-conscious market."

The distinction matters. A price-sensitive consumer buys the cheapest option available. A price-conscious consumer evaluates whether something is worth paying more for. And according to Blum, that shift is already reshaping the market.

"If you explain it well," Maarten de Vries says, "Indian customers are more than willing to spend money for a good product." That observation holds true across product categories as consumers are increasingly willing to pay premiums for products that can clearly demonstrate value: durability, functionality, service, design, convenience, or longevity. But brands have to do the work of communicating that value first.

That means helping customers understand not just what the product is, but how it improves daily life. It also means adapting solutions to Indian realities. In India, for instance, the company sees strong demand for drawer systems with stainless steel sides because stainless steel remains deeply embedded in Indian kitchen design and usage habits.

The larger lesson from Blum's India journey is that succeeding here requires far more than simply bringing a global product into a high-growth market. India demands adaptation at every level: service models, communication, training, distribution, and customer engagement. And in some cases, those local experiments are beginning to influence the wider organisation itself.

Maarten De Vries points out that Blum India's marketing and communication strategies have generated such strong engagement that other markets within the Blum Group are now studying what the Indian team is doing differently.

That matters because every global brand today wants to "crack" India. But the companies that succeed are often the ones willing to accept that India cannot be approached with a fixed playbook. Scale may be the opportunity, but adaptation is the real test.

Because succeeding in India demands more than simply selling products, it demands understanding how people live, what they value, what earns their trust, and where global systems need to bend to local realities. And for companies willing to make that investment, the opportunity is enormous.